REPORT: Jeff Van Gundy could be leaving ESPN for Houston Rockets

Once a coach, always a coach.

Even after nine years since the last time Jeff Van Gundy was seen roaming the sidelines as a NBA head coach, it appears the coaching bug isn’t gone. Recent reports have indicated that the nine-year broadcasting veteran is a finalist for the Houston Rockets coaching job, and may actually be the leading contender to land the job.

Van Gundy being linked to an open NBA head coaching job is nothing new, as he was previously linked with the open Memphis Grizzlies position and the Los Angeles Lakers this offseason and plenty of others since last coaching in 2007.

Ironically, should Van Gundy get the job it would be a return to the team that he last coached in the NBA. Following a tumultuous four-year tenure that saw the Rockets bounced in all three postseason appearances during his stint with the team.

For the Rockets, it seems to have been an offseason of swinging for the fences and missing. They were linked to possibly land the hottest assistant coach in Luke Walton, but he took the Lakers job. There were also top college coaches like Shaka Smart (Texas) and Bill Self (Kansas).

Should Van Gundy actually land back where he last left off as a coach, NBA fans will miss out on one of the more intense broadcasters out there. Lest we forget his epic flopping rant:

Or his rant on on the “intentional foul” rule, or Kobe Bryant buffing Van Gundy’s bald head.

Point being, few broadcasters have the inside knowledge or intensity of the former and potentially future NBA coach had on TV.

[Larry Brown Sports]